Science Education in the 21st Century

Teaching strategies for science education in the 21st Century must seriously look at student’s active participation such as science fair projects and science fairs, so our future young scientist will be prepared to contribute their talents to the quantum scientific advances that are occurring worldwide. Even science fair science kits have become sophisticated, addressing the issues of energy science fair projects, hydrogen fuel cell cars and solar energy power house experiments.

As a whole, our society has grown in leaps and bounds over the past two hundred years, making advances in science and technology that were unthinkable to our ancestors half-a- millennia ago. We have progressed along unprecedented avenues in our quest for knowledge, and the information that we have amassed has set new standards for the students of today. If you look at the history of science fairs, you will see unprecedented growth in participation by government and industry, for this is where they will find our talented future scientists.

Our classrooms are filled with future doctors, government officials, and scientists, who will all have a hand in shaping our society for decades to come. Those responsible for teaching these young leaders are finding that conventional methods of instruction are significantly lacking when it comes to maintaining a grasp on the constant changes of our society. More and more free Teachers Resources are cropping up all over the worldwide web.

Typically, in the traditional classroom, a single teacher delivers an instructive monologue over various topics of supposedly equal importance, while row after row of panicked students madly scribbles down notes in their respective notebooks. Each student is provided the exact same material as everyone else, and each student is expected to hear, process, and recall the exact same information for an exam at a later time. Little time is spent answering individual questions, and thus, sadly, many students fall behind in their schooling.

Why have many classrooms reverted to this traditional teaching approach? In the United States teachers are under extreme pressure to have their students score high on standardized tests. Teachers are teaching to tests, not curious minded students!

With such radical advances taking place in science, medicine, and technology, the traditional classroom cannot hope to provide children with a full education.

Enter the science laboratory filled with fun lab supplies. In a laboratory, students are encouraged to participate in the scientific method for kids - to ask pertinent questions, form hypotheses, collect data, and reach appropriate conclusions. Teachers who use this method of instruction are able to predict learning advancements in their students and determine how to best help them grow as individuals.

A recent study of high-school chemistry students tested their ability to ask meaningful and scientifically-sound questions after critically reading a scientific article. The testing population consisted of a group of students from an inquiry-laboratory setting, and another group from a traditional laboratory setting.

Both groups were asked to provide in-depth questions about the material covered in the article, but the findings concluded that the inquiry-laboratory group (the ones who were permitted and encouraged to ask questions and discuss results in the classroom), outperformed the group in the traditional laboratory setting (the ones who were merely given information and expected to retain it). The inquiry-laboratory students were able to ask a higher quantity and higher quality of questions than the other group.

The benefits of an inquiry-based scientific laboratory are almost incalculable when factoring in the long-term effects of a sound education. A child who is encouraged to search for answers and then discuss findings with a helpful and responsive teacher will learn and progress much more quickly than a student who is constantly trying to play “catch-up” on note-taking before a test day.

Active participation is the key to an inquiry based classroom. Encourage students to generate ideas for science fair projects, discuss topics such as renewable energy in the classroom, engage group chemistry science fair projects or physics science fair projects in the classroom laboratory or have discussions about possible high school science fair project ideas.